Angels and Monsters
by Hornless Bull
Summary: Set during season one, the story examines two what ifs and their consequences. Eden has a chance meeting with Peter. Elle decides to pay a visit to Texas. Pairing Sylar/Elle & Peter/Eden. Told from Elle & Eden's POV. M for smut, language and violence.
1. Butterfly Effect

_I do not own Heroes. I'm not making money off this, etc. _

_Basic Premiums: Set during season one about the time of episode 'Better Halves.' Mohinder leaves for India. Peter comes by his apartment to try and convince the doctor once more. The story assumes that Eden and Peter never met during 'Collision', which means they do not know each other. Also, it closes the plot hole the show left with Peter meeting but never acquiring Eden's ability…Hmm, plot problems with Heroes? Say it isn't so. _

* * *

_The fluttering of a butterfly's wings can effect climate changes on the other side of the planet._

_-Paul Erlich_

_We all imagine ourselves the agents of our destiny, capable of determining our own fate. But have we truly any choice in when we rise, or when we fall, or does a force larger than ourselves bid us our direction? Is it evolution that takes us by the hand, does Science point our way, or is it God who intervenes, keeping us safe._

_- Mohinder Suresh_

* * *

_Mohinder's Apartment-NYC_

Tack.

She played with the tack. Mohinder's map was so much fun. Eden wondered who she should move today. Whenever Mohinder left her alone with his newspaper and photo covered map, she would move one or two of his subjects. Is that the right word? Subjects?

She pulled a random photo clipping free. Her brown eyes considered the middle aged woman's black and white features. Eden pinned it back to the map someplace in Canada. She smiled with the thought how confused Mohinder would be, if he ever returned to New York.

Eden noticed the quite. She wonders if maybe Noah had finally stopped berating her. He was always too serious. As she adjusted the phone in her hand, she made a noncommittal integrative noise.

Then Noah demanded, 'Are you even listening to me?'

'Of course,' she assured him with a sweet smile like he could somehow see her expression through the phone.

The stern company man said, 'You could have made Mohinder stay.'

'I tried,' she answered with a shrug of her thin shoulders.

'We both know you can try harder,' he answered and the Noah was off again on another company policy rant.

Eden ignored him. She did not want Mohinder to stay. He bored her. The handsome Indian spent more time chasing the ethereal 'people with abilities' than her. Eden had used every trick she new get Mohinder's attention. If Noah had let her take her clothes off, or use her ability, seducing Mohinder would have been so much easier. Now she was supposed to stand here and listen as he chewed her out about not using her ability to make Mohinder stay? She long suspected Noah was a hypocrite. This conversation confirmed it.

She interrupted Noah to ask the obvious question, 'How was I supposed to _make _him stay?'

Quiet.

With a lipless happy smile, Eden turned back to the map. She picked at one of the tacks. Maybe move the strings around this time?

'You need to come back to Primatech,' he tells her.

Panic.

Eden loved New York. It is different from LA, but the same. The city was alive. It moved and swayed, and danced to a rhythm that she needed, which kept her sane. Plan old boring Texas was hell. Nothing to do. No place to go. She would just sit for hours at that stupid paper company watching endless rolls of paper be cut, stacked, boxed and shipped. Everywhere she looked all she saw was paper cut, stacked, boxed, and shipped ad infin. The place made her crazy.

'No,' she told him, 'I need to stay here. When Mohinder comes back, I need to be here. If I'm not here to guide him, who knows what trouble he could cause.'

Noah sounded unconvinced. 'Eden, you're coming back. We need you to get the precog and bring him in. From what we've gathered, he's like you used to be, maybe worse.'

Eden knew that was supposed to pluck at her heartstrings. She did not want to play nursemaid to junky Isaac, yet some part of her did. Maybe if she helped someone else, it would make her stronger, and make staying clean easier. Then the alcohol would lose its seductive power. Every day she wanted a drink. Every day she wanted to use her power. Whisper those few words that would give her the things, the people, and the experiences she wanted.

Maybe if she helped whoever this person was, then she would become stronger. Eden hoped that would be the case. If she ever did slip up with her power or the alcohol and drugs, then she would run again. The company had abducted her on the way to LAX anyway. Eden considered it fitting that slipping up would mean fleeing the company, unless she wanted to stay for the inevitable bullet to the head.

'Eden?' Noah half questions, half demands.

'Fine,' she told him, 'I'll get him and take him to Hartford.'

'No, Texas.'

Eden wanted to object. Agents were supposed to take special to the nearest facility, which was Hartford. She could argue about it, but…

'Fine,' Eden said.

She quickly pushed the end button before Noah could protest or give her some other unpleasant task. As she turned to toss the phone on Mohinder's desk, Eden saw a man. He stood in the open doorway giving her an uncertain look.

'Can I help you?' Eden probed.

'Umm…is Mohinder around?'

She slowly shook her head back and forth, while her eyes studied the man. Long brown emoish hair, an expensive coat covered a dress shirt and slacks. The formal clothes fit his stiff awkward expression. He was handsome, and familiar. Eden could not say why he looked so familiar. It felt like she had seen him some place.

He interrupted her thoughts, 'Are you his girlfriend or…'

She laughed. Kissing was a close to girlfriend as she would get with Mohinder. Even if the scientist came back, intimate contact with her charges was forbidden. It was one of Noah's inflexible rules, which he touted constantly. Eden told the man, 'No, Mohinder's only a friend. I'm just his neighbor.'

He looked at her shifting his weight from foot to foot. Eden knew this type. All goody goody, follow the rules, until she got them alone and relaxed. Then they became demanding and rough. Mr. Business Suburbia that would never dream of asking his wife to do the dirty things he demanded of her. They always said how they paid her, and that meant they owned her. That it did not matter what they made her do because she was just a whore. Yeah, Eden knew this type. The type had a nice pleasant façade but underneath he would like to control, like to hurt.

Once he understood the ability he had, Emo would abuse it. His power would feed his desire to control, and soon the power would overwhelm him. He would become a slave to it. Besides, he had to have an ability. Why else would he be here asking about good old Doctor Suresh?

'What's your name?' she asked sweetly.

'Peter.'

Eden walked around the table. A long fingered hand extended to Peter, she bats her eyes at him all submissive the way he would like. His soft warm hand shook hers.

'I'm Eden,' she told him. Her thumb rubbed the back of his hand as she pulled her fingers free. They looked at each other for a few awkward seconds.

'Umm…not to be nosy…but ahh…If you're Mohinder's neighbor, are you checking his apartment or something…?'

She smiled back at him. Oh, Pretty Peter you would be too easy. 'I was just checking on Mohinder, when the phone rang.'

He gave her a puzzled look. 'I thought you said he was gone?'

Eden pointed at the terrarium and the lizard inside. She told him, 'I was checking on that Mohinder. The other doctor Suresh, the older one, named the little guy after his son.'

She turned back to Peter. He looked so familiar. Eden felt like she should know him. Her inability to place him was driving her crazy. Eden asked, 'You ever been to LA?'

'What? No,' he stammered back at the unexpected question.

'Vegas?'

He shook his head no, while giving her a weary look. Laying off the questions seemed like a good idea. Better yet, Eden realized how she could 'help' Pretty Peter.

She inquired, 'What can you do?'

He remained silent.

'Oh, come on. You have to have an ability or you wouldn't be looking for Doctor Suresh. So what is it?'

He shook his head again. 'Just tell Mohinder I came by.'

She called out as he turned to leave, 'Wait, please.'

Peter stopped. He gave her an odd inpatient look.

She got him to stop, and now? Eden tried to figure out what she wanted from Peter. Since she was very sure he had a power, then the company would be interested in him. This was a chance to show what a good agent she was. How to get some information on the guy without going all name, rank and serial number? Number, that was it.

'Hey,' she said, 'can I have your number?'

'Ahh,' he drew the word out.

'Oh, not like that,' Eden assured him with a sweet smile. This guy was stiffer than she first thought. 'It's for when Mohinder comes back, then I can give you a call. That way you two can do whatever. You want that, right?'

He agreed and gave her his number. Eden scribbled it on a notepad from Mohinder's messy desk. When she finished, Eden gave Peter a little smile and an innocuous comment expecting him to leave.

'How about yours?' he asked.

'What?'

The must have been something in her face, because suddenly Peter appeared more uncertain. He told her, 'I don't have Mohinder's number…and since you're watching his place. I could maybe call you sometime and see if he's back?'

Eden considered that. She could give Peter her Company cell number. That way it might be easier to tag and bag him later. Brown experienced eyes run over him again. Figured that was the right play with too earnest Peter.

A quick scribble on some scrap paper and it was done. She gave him another pleasant smile. Then Eden hurried him out the door.

Peter gone, her willowy body slumped against the closed door. Thoughts about Texas flooded her mind unbidden and disruptive. Eden hated Texas. Fucking Bennet.


	2. Redemption or Damnation

_I don't own Heroes, etc. _

_Now, the really story starts. Sylar was captured at Homecoming by Eden and the Haitian. Eden confronts Bennet about his plans for Sylar. Enjoy. _

* * *

_Do not prostitute thy daughter, to cause her to be a whore; lest the land fall to whoredom, and the land become full of wickedness._

_-Leviticus 19:29, KJV_

_"And now, behold, I speak unto the church. Thou shalt not kill; and he that kills shall not have forgiveness in this world, nor in the world to come." _

_-Doctrines & Covenants 42:18 _

* * *

_Primatech Paper Company-Odessa, TX_

Believe.

Eden could not believe this. Noah was going to do nothing. They finally captured that monster, and the Company wanted to do nothing. Sure, Sylar would be poked and prodded a little. After that he would end up at Level Five like all the others. Self righteous Noah Bennet was going to let the Company hide this monster away. Even the threat to his daughter failed to penetrate his Company Man veneer.

'This is wrong,' she told him again.

He gave her that patented father knows best look. The hallway lights flash off his glasses. Noah waved a hand dismissively at her. 'The company could learn something from him. Once we figure out how his power works, we'll take care of him.'

She knew what that meant, Sylar was destined for Level Five with all the other killers and their golden haired jailer. Eden thought that was not good enough. Sylar was a rabid dog and needed to be put down.

She said as much, 'He's a rabid animal, Noah. The Company needs to understand that.'

'NO,' the Company Man responded in an overly anger tinged voice. Noah started telling Eden that she needed to mind her own self, that the Company knew best, and that she should go babysit Isaac.

Eden was not really paying attention. Her phone rang just as Noah started in on her. Lithe fingers dug it out of her jean pocket. The number was unfamiliar. She thumbed the accept button. A random phone call was better than listen to Noah chew her out, again.

'Hello?' she asked with a curious tone.

'Eden?' a male voice inquired.

'Mmhh,' she answered. Already turned around, she walked slowly away from Noah. His words echoed down the sterile Primatech hall behind her. Eden waved a hand above her head. One finger extended. She tried to think and figure out who the hell called her.

'This may sound a little strange, but where are you?'

What the hell. Who was this and why the hell did they want to know where she was?

'Who is this?', she demanded.

'It's Peter. We meet at Mohinder's apartment,' voice asked.

Eden remembers him. Pretty Peter with the deep brown eyes. She was right about him. He called her and with pretty good timing too.

'I'm sorry, Peter, but he's not back yet,' she told him. 'Call me again in a few days.'

Eden suspected that if she played this right, arranging a date with awkward emo Peter would be very easy. His bag and tag might make up for what she was about to do. Still, she expected him to say something and he had not.

'Peter?'

'Peter?'

She looked at her phone. The call had been dropped. Eden was not surprised. After all, in an underground super secret prison, cell phone reception was notoriously spotty. As she went down the hall, Eden shoved the phone back into her jeans. Peter would call back and she had things to do.

Eden reached the female dorm, and her room sooner than expected. Her thoughts were distracted, which let her feet guide her along the well worn hallways. As she was about to enter her room, Eden considered the difference between the agent's quarters and the cells. One difference was that her room locked from the inside. The other was the interior mirror was smaller and not transparent, or at least Eden did not think it was.

Eden hurried inside and locked the door behind her. The worn dresser, a latticed back chair, and a twin the bed was the room's only furniture. She crossed quickly to the dresser. Eden kept a handful of clothes inside, which were the few remaining pieces of her former life. Rummaging through the clothes, her fingers brushed the gun.

Its cold metal weight felt uncomfortable. This was not her gun. She had done the basic firearms training like all the Company agents, however Eden's custom Strayer Voigt Infinty .45 was in her New York apartment. This particular gun had belonged to Bridget Bailey. When Bridget and Eden went on a mission together, the other woman 'lost' the gun. Naturally Eden helped Bridget lose the gun into Eden's purse. The Company became upset with Bitchy Bridget. Eden smiled at the memory. She always knew an extra gun would be useful someday.

Still, the two toned weapon felt wrong. Eden did not have anything against guns and she could shoot one, but a creeping uncertainty gnawed at her. When she killed her step-mother, it was an accident. It was the first uncontrolled misunderstood use of her power, while what she planned today was cold, terrible soul damning murder. She thought it was stupid that she worried about the blackness of her soul after all the things she had done.

Since accidently killing her step mom, Eden knew she had done a lot of things that were bad. Afraid that her voice could only kill people, Eden became terrified to speak. She had always been a quite, and the guilt over her step mom's death made her even quieter.

After Eden's step mom died, their house burned down. The dead woman's cigarette sparked the cleaning chemicals Eden was using when she killed her. Eden watched the house burn. Its loss left her without a family or a home. There was only one thing left for her to do.

She ran away. A truck ride to Las Vegas left her homeless, hungry and alone. As a sixteen year old runaway from nowhere Utah, Eden was unsurprised what happened next.

Still, she supposed she was lucky. With her long hair, big brown eyes and a slim graceful figure, she had the things needed for survival. Once she got hungry enough and cold enough, Eden became willing to do anything or anyone. At first the sex really bothered her. It made her feel dirty like her body was simultaneously on fire and covered in soul staining foul mud. The money she earned helped make her forgot how she earned. Well, it was more the alcohol that she bought, which helped her forget.

Later on Eden became even luckier when the mob took her in. With her youth and good looks, she worked the high end clients at various casino's, even Linderman's casino, which she thought was very funny considering who he really was. Working for the mob, Eden started the serious drugs and drinking. They helped her cope, helped her perform, helped her push everything away except making it through the night with another satisfied client behind her. After awhile she got numbed to the work. Every night became a swirl of drinking, drugs and sex. That went on for awhile, a long while.

Then, in a stupid moment of weakness, Eden skipped out of Vegas. Making it to LA, she tried going straight. She bartended at a hotel for a while, but her need for the drugs and the drinking outstripped her meeker income. Eden knew how to fix that, and she did. She had already done everything, well almost everything, so why worry about a few more tricks? As a bartender, it was easy to find the right guy, serve a few drinks, and drop some hints. Then upstairs to the room she reserved, a few minutes on her back or her knees, some money earned and then back down to the bar. Eden always gave the other bartender a cut, just to keep him covering for her while she was away.

Things went like that for a time. It was not great, but it was a life. Then one day Eden got pissed at a waiter. She told him to go put his head in the oven. Sure enough, he did. The dummy was lucky. The oven was off. Still, it was a defining moment. The elapsed time, the drugs and the alcohol had almost made her forget about her step mom. The waiter helped her remember and made her curious. Maybe she could do more than kill with her voice? She tried a few things. Of course people did what she wanted. She could make anyone do anything.

When she finally understood what her voice could do, Eden laughed until she cried. Then she cried for a longtime. The whole time she was doing those dirty things a few well chosen words could have saved her. Eden told herself it was all over, that she would fix everything. Telling herself that was supposed to make her feel better, even if it never did. It did make her sure of one thing. The world owed her, and she was going to make it pay and pay and pay.

For a time, things were good, or as closed to good as she had ever enjoyed. She got back at some of those entitled assholes that used her. Then Eden made LA her personal playground. All the cars, drugs, alcohol and men she wanted. For once it was only the men _she_ wanted. That was nice. That was heaven.

After a time, Eden got bored, and decided to travel. On the drive to LAX, the Company abducted her. A few drops of Adam's blood, a chat with Noah, and she was 'cured'. Physically she no longer needed the drugs or the alcohol, yet, her she had a need for them that was like an insidious malevolent voice that whispered constantly. The Company shrinks explained it as psychological dependence.

Then they fixed her. Well, mostly they fixed her. Sometimes that voice would come back whispering seductive honey sweat words, just one drink, one hit and it would all be better. No Company. No loneliness. No memories. No pain. Some nights the voice was almost too much, almost.

Eden realized that thinking through her life, while holding a gun was probably a bad sign. She tried to escape the feeling of impending disquiet that had descended on her. In all the things she had done, Eden had never murdered someone.

She knew murder was a sin. Dad ensured his little sinner got all the religious indoctrination she could at a very young age. Then he left, but she did not want to think about that. Anyway, the Church's teachings left her with no doubt that she was a sinner. She was a woman who exchanged the favors of her body for money. She was a whore. The church told her that she was going to burn in hell for all the things she had done. It did not matter if she did them to survive. No sir, not for a black hearted sinner like her.

So, why not add murderess to her endless list of sins? Eden told herself it did not matter. A shake of the head helped drive away the unpleasant thought, yet the pieces of it lingered like the tendrils of a nightmare upon waking.

She tried to refocus on her current task. Eden found the gun's magazine hidden in her spare clothes. After loading the gun and chambering a round, she started for the door. The phone rang.

Her graceful steps slow as she considered. It was probably Peter calling again trying to find Mohinder. She wanted to get her business done with Sylar, yet she needed something to offer the Company, and Peter might be it. Eden switched the gun to her other hand and fished her phone out of her jeans.

'Peter?'

'Yeah, Eden?'

She said warmly, 'It's me. Mohinder's not back yet, sorry.'

'Oh, thanks,' he said. 'Actually I was calling about something else. I was in Texas a couple nights ago and I thought I might have seen y-.'

Abrupt silence.

Irritated dark eyes scrutinized her phone. Another dropped call, fuck. No matter, Peter could wait. She had things to do.

Eden jammed the phone into her jeans, again. Then she peeked out the white institutional bland door. Seeing no one, Eden slipped out into the hall. Fluid hurried steps carried her towards Sylar's cell.

* * *

_Next Time: Elle, Sylar and Eden. Oh, my!_

_I'm really interested on any feedback on my characterization of Eden. Also, the plot will pick up in the next chapter. _


	3. Psychopath vs Sociopath

_I don't own Heroes, or am I doing this for money, etc. _

* * *

_Psychopath: A person with an antisocial personality disorder, manifested in aggressive, perverted, criminal, or amoral behavior without empathy or remorse._

_Vs._

_Sociopath: Someone whose social behavior is extremely abnormal. Sociopaths are interested only in their personal needs and desires, without concern for the effects of their behavior on others._

Know.

Elle had to know, had to come see him, had to find out if he really meant it.

So why was she afraid?

She stopped just short of his cell. Elle worried he might hate her. Knew that she gave Gabriel every reason to loath her. The lies she told him were bad, very bad. It was not all lies, and in the end, she had tried to save him. That had to count for something, right?

What really worried her was that their history together might not matter now. The man in the cell was no longer her shy quite Gabriel. Maybe it was the things she had done to him, maybe it was always there inside him, maybe it did not matter where it came from, because now he was a killer. He was Sylar.

That scared Elle more than she would admit to anyone including herself. It was not Gabriel waiting for her. It was Sylar. Gabriel would never hurt her, but would Sylar?

She took a deep breath, and tried to push that worrisome thought back to the dark doubt filled place that created it. Blue eyes glanced at the far wall. Where the wall joined with the ceiling, a security camera watched Sylar's cell. The blinking red light at the base of the camera indicated that it was recording.

Elle bit her lip as she watched that ruby light blink on and off, on and off. Her electrical ability could easily disable the camera. That did not worry her. What disabling the camera would mean worried her. It was the first step in something that Elle was not entirely sure she wanted to go through with. She could try backing out after frying the camera, but that would require a great deal of explaining. Also, Daddy would be upset, and Elle was so very tired of Daddy.

She took the step. A causal flick of her wrist sent blue white lighting arching across down the hall. Blue sparks and smoke marked the camera's death. Elle coughed as the stench of burnt plastic offended her delicate sensibilities. The memories that smell brought to mind still bothered her. She pushed them away, and focused on what might be waiting only a few feet from her.

Elle walked the last few feet to the viewing window, heels clicking against the cement floor. She expected a dramatic reunion with the only man who said that he loved her. Instead, she was greeted by a sleeping figure.

Frustrated that her destruction of the security camera failed to rouse him, she commanded, 'Wake up.'

Sylar remained curled in a fetal position atop the single bed. He stayed motionless as Elle repeated her command. Hands curled into tight fist, she tried to figure out why he would not wake up.

Maybe the company had sedated him? Elle checked his medical file before coming down here. There was nothing listed that should render him unresponsive. The only thing he was on was the standard ability suppressors. With that in mind, she struggled to understand what the problem was.

Then insight flashed across her thoughts. Elle looked at the cell intercom. It was off. The cell was nearly sound proof. She pushed the intercom button.

'Wake up,' she said louder than she should.

The intercom magnified voices in the cell. All part of the Company's standard integration policy. Loud commanding voices were supposed to intimidate the specials. Elle supposed it did, however in this case it had an unexpected effect.

Sylar half jumped, half slid off the bed. He landed on the floor in a tangle of limbs. Pushing himself to his feet, Sylar threw a hateful look at the window.

Elle knew that he recognized her. His expression changed from hate, to shocked, and then to something else, something Elle could not quite place. Finally, recovering himself his face went blank.

Elle almost laughed at that, like his blank face could conceal his need for her. She could tell that Gabriel was still in there. His dark eyes might be harder, might be angrier, but Elle could still read him. Still, see his need for her.

She remained motionless as his brown eyes roamed over her body. Dressed in a tight low cut blouse and a mini-skirt that she bought special for this occasion, Elle was certain he liked what he saw. She could say the same about him. His dark hair was cut short, which fit well with the several days of dark stubble that covered his face. His standard Company white T-shirt and slacks projected an aura of purity that he no longer deserved.

Elle struggled to suppress her smile. She wanted to throw open his cell and run to him. Then she could tell him how sorry she was, that she meant almost everything she told, that she loved him, that she thought about him every day, and that she would help get away, if only he would take her with him. Doing that would be a mistake, Elle knew that, yet she to be with him so very much.

Sylar walked toward the window. Elle fidgeted. His eyes were too much. Her need for him was too much. She found herself ringing her hands together.

Sylar stopped with his face inches from the glass. With his hands by his sides, he seemed unthreatening, yet his unseen power was there, unspoken and silent.

Anger. It radiated off him in unseen waves. Elle wondered if his anger with her caused him to kill so horrendously. The things he did to some of victims went beyond his 'hunger' for their ability. She always wondered where his anger came from, where his need to hurt started. It was not something she ever saw in Gabriel. Now, Elle suspected he hurt others because he could not hurt her.

'I'm sorry,' she whispered.

He remained standing a few impenetrable inches away. The only indication he heard her was the slight up turning of his lips like a smile wishing to be born that was not. Elle waited. Then he pressed his hand to the glass, with his long fingers spread wide.

She smiled. Maybe he did not hate her after all. Her smaller hand touched the cold glass, with her fingers spread to interlink with his. Elle was about to speak, about to tell him what she wanted.

A the female voice said with surprise and venom 'YOU.'

Elle whirled around. Electricity hummed to life in her hands. Shocked blue eyes widened.

Eden McCain stood in the doorway. The other woman's slim body half in the facility hallway and half in the cell observing area. Eden's pale doll like features contorted with rage.

Elle knew she was in trouble, and that things had gone wrong. Of all the people to discover her here, Eden was one of the worst. If only Elle had not gotten so carried away when Eden was on Level Five, then she might be able to talk her way out of this. Elle did not feel bad about what she did, only that her personal history with Eden precluded an easy resolution.

Besides how was she supposed to know electroshock therapy would not help Eden fight drug and alcohol withdraws? All she did was try to help Eden, while the Company drew blood from Adam, or so she told Daddy afterwards. Daddy failed to believe her. He yelled at her about abusing the prisoners, about how they were people and not playthings for her powers, and about how she was lucky to avoid being one of them. That last part hurt, because some part of her worried that if Daddy was not her Daddy, then she would have her own little cell on Level Five.

All that flashed through Elle's mind lightening quick. Elle realized that she could see only one of Eden's hands. The other woman was opening her mouth, while she brought something shinny out from behind her back.

'_Sto-,' _Eden started to say before her voice turned into a scream.

Lighting arched from Elle's hand to Eden. The other woman slammed back through the doorway, where she collapsed into a convulsing heap in the hall beyond. As her electricity faded to nothingness, Elle worried that she might have given the other woman too much. What would Daddy say when he found out? She winced at the thought. Then Elle considered that maybe she should finish the job. After all she could make up some story about Eden coming to free Sylar or something like that, and how the Great Agent Bishop stopped her. Elle shook her head at the thought. She knew no one, especially not Daddy or Bennet, would believe that.

A tapping sound drew her attention back to Sylar. He regarded her with a dark hungry smile. His smile was different than Gabriel's. Elle liked it.

Elle supposed it was too late now. She could never get away with burning out the security camera and shocking Eden. Either Sylar would leave with her or…Elle forced her thoughts away from the unpleasant alternative.

She hurried to the cell door. Deft fingers pushed in the security code. The door lock clicked open, and Elle stepped inside.

She knew they had to hurry. Eventually someone would notice that the camera was not working. Also, from vast previous experience, Elle knew that bodies, even unconscious ones, drew unwanted attention.

Still, she wanted to have some fun with this. Elle walked to the small raised bed, where she sat. Meanwhile, Sylar regarded her curiously from across the room. Elle crossed her short toned legs and then re-crossed them, with a meaningful pause that afforded him what she knew was a nice view.

She felt his hungry gaze eat at her. Maybe he wanted her power, maybe he wanted something else, either way it made her smile bright and happy. She had her favorite toy all to herself, and no one, especially not Daddy or Bennet, were going to take it away this time.

'Hi, Gabriel,' she said casually.

His smile fell. 'My name is Sylar,' he corrected her.

She almost laughed at that. Instead Elle decided to play along. She assured him, 'Of course it is, _Sylar_. You're the big bad wolf himself.' Her index finger touched the base of her chin, while she cocked her head. In a smooth playful tone, 'Except you're not so big, or so bad, because you're in here. Poor helpless wolf is all locked up.'

He muttered something unintelligible in response.

This time she did laugh. 'Sylar, Sylar,' she chided, 'how I've missed you. You know I've missed you right?'

'I've missed you too, Elle. It is Elle, right?'

'Yes, my name is Elle,' she told him, while her playful pose became seductive once again.

Silence.

Elle hated that gut wrenching slithering nervousness she suddenly felt. She hated the quite, with its many memories of untold lonely silent hours spent in rooms too similar to this cell.

Suddenly she blurted out, 'Everything I told you was true.'

He was about to respond, when she interrupted. 'Well, almost everything. I do have a power,' she waved a hand around like it indicated her truthfulness. 'Oh, and I didn't just wonder into your shop one day because my watch was broke, and…and…there might be one or two minor things that I can't think of right now. But, the rest of it…the important things, they were all true.'

Silence.

'What if I want your power?' he asked with a smile.

Smiling back, because she knew how impotent the meds made him. 'Well, I would say you can't have it.'

'Really?'

'Yes.'

The world moved. Somehow Elle went from sitting on the bed, to pinned against the wall. She did not understand how it happened. What she did know was that her head had cracked painfully against the concrete, which set off a miniature sun behind her eyes. Elle blinked while she tried to get her watery eyes to focus. He was not so impotent after all. While that worried her, what the real concern was what he would do to her before she could stop him.

* * *

_Next Time: Sylar demands something from Elle… _


	4. Best First Date Ever

_I don't own Heroes, or am I doing this for money, etc. _

* * *

_It means that you will collect a lot of powers. You will kill many people. You will become strong. The strongest of them all. But in the end, it won't make any difference. We all gather to stop you. You're alone. No one will mourn your death. No one will shed a tear. No one. I wish I could change fate, but you must go on your path._

_-Hiro to Sylar in 'Once Upon a Time in Texas'_

_A moth might love a flame/ But how shall they join their souls, silly moth?/ Asked the flame./ Very carefully / Said the moth / But it can be done /If we have love._

_- Bert Byfield , 'The Moth to the Flame: A Love Story'_

Lounged.

Sylar lounged on his bed, while swinging a foot back and forth like a clock's pendulum. He smiled rakishly. A few days of dark stubble covered his handsome face, while his dark eyes stared piercingly at her.

Elle struggled against the unseen force that pinned her against the wall. She was helpless with her hands pressed against her stomach, and her feet several inches above the ground. As she struggled, Sylar smiled arrogantly, which had the unexpected and infuriating effect of making her want him so very much. The sheer power of the man fascinated her. Sylar was more powerful than Adam, than Daddy, than another special she had ever met. Elle needed him. Needed him to want her, to have him look at her like Gabriel did in his Queens apartment. She needed him to love her again.

Finally he spoke, 'What's the game this time Elle? Some elaborate plot to shoot me while I escape?'

She stopped struggling. 'No, game. I want things to be like they were in Queens. I couldn't save you then, but I can now. I can save us both.'

He laughed. She hated that he laughed. How could he laugh at her? After all she was giving up for him? She gave up her Daddy, the Company, really everything she ever had, for him, all for him. So how could he laugh?

'Fuck, you then,' she told him.

The laughter stopped. His expression became serious. Sylar said, 'You already did, remember?' He paused and seemed to consider something. 'Actually, I've always wondered how much of _that_ you faked. If you really enjoyed our time together or if it was all an act.'

She shook her head. Pain radiated from the base of her skull. Her vision swam for a second, and then refocused. Elle felt like vomiting. Instead, she tried to piece some words together that might make him love her.

'It was real,' Elle assured him. 'I loved you Gabriel. I still love you.'

He remained quite. His face was blank as he watching her, while his foot continued its metronome.

She prompted, 'Remember how you said you loved me?'

He answered hurtfully, 'I never said that. Gabriel did.' He smiled before continuing, 'I'm not Gabriel anymore. You saw to that. I'm Sylar now.'

Elle did not know how to respond to that. She felt like someone had run a steel girder through her chest leaving a gabbing weeping wound. Things were not supposed to be like this. Why would he not just leave with her? Could he not see that she was doing all this for him? That she loved him?

Elle knew that they had to hurry. Eden might wake up soon, or someone might notice that the security camera was out and come charging in to 'rescue' her. She decided on another approach.

'We have to hurry, or we'll never make it out of here,' she told him.

He smiled wider. 'I can leave anytime I want.'

'No, you can't,' Elle answered. 'Soon someone is going to notice the camera doesn't work. And then they will see Eden lying in the middle of the hall.'

He shrugged.

She insisted, 'If you don't come with me now, you're going to die in here all sad, and cold, and alone, and even I won't love you then.'

The smile fell. His expression changed as he jumped off the bed. His long legs quickly closed the distance between them. Dark eyes searched her face like some truth would reveal itself if only he looked harder.

Sylar demanded, 'Who told you that?'

Bewildered Elle replied, 'No one told me that. They don't need to, because it's true.'

His breath beat against her cheek. Elle squirmed against the wall. He smiled at her. God that smile made Elle want to do things, very bad, very dirty things. The power that Sylar so carelessly displaced made her shiver.

He scared her. He thrilled her. Perhaps those annoying doctors Daddy made her see where right? A normal girl should not feel this turned on by a serial killer, right? In this moment, with Sylar's warm muscular body pressed so close, Elle really did not care what he was, only if he would let her be with him forever.

'What was that?' she asked. Sylar said something she missed, because she was too distracted by the closeness of his body.

Annoyed and with an expression that reminded her a little too much of how Daddy looked at her, Sylar repeated, 'I have some trouble trusting you, Elle.'

'I know,' she answered quickly, 'but you can this time, really. You can trust me.'

He remained silent. His head tilted to the left like the weight of his considerations unbalanced his mind. She could barely hold his intense gaze. Elle was almost down to the last thing she could offer him. This was supposed to be his reward, but this whole situation was completely different from the fantasies that kept her awake at night.

'I'll give them to you,' she whispered.

He leaned closer, with his moisture inviting lips scant inches away. Sylar asked, 'Give me who?'

'Specials. People with powers, I'll give them to you. I've got the Company's files. You can have whoever you want. Just please take me with you, _please_,' the last word ended in her needy little girl voice.

Sylar remained quite. She could tell her offer tempted him. Elle deiced to offer him the very last thing she could.

Blue eyes closed as she leaned forward. Their lips met. At first Sylar was still, his mouth firmly closed. Then suddenly he kissed her. Muscular arms pin her to the wall. The force that held her disappeared. Elle wrapped her slender arms around his strong neck. She pulled him close, as his bulk pressed against her. His tongue was in her mouth. It brushed and teased against hers. Elle moaned into his mouth.

She did not know how long they stayed like that. They kissed, groped and ground against each other through the irritating impenetrable barrier of clothes. What Elle did know was that the world moved. Somehow the world managed to shift, to dissolve and reform itself into something else, something other than it was moments before.

Sylar broke the kiss and nuzzled her neck. He kissed and nipped at the exposed tender flesh, while her fingers raked through his hair. Only a few months had past since the last time they did this, yet to Elle it had felt like an eternity. At that moment, crushed between the cell wall and her lover, Elle swore she would never let stupid Daddy or the Company keep her away from Sylar ever again.

An involuntary shudder ran down her spin as he nipped her throat. She hated herself for what she said next. 'Stop.'

He did not.

'STOP.'

A mixture of fury and confusion marred his handsome features. Gently she cupped his cheek. Then she told him, 'We have to leave, now. We've taken too long as it is and we have to hurry.'

He was about to protest, when she pressed a small finger to his lips. Elle leaned forward and whispered, 'Tonight, I'm all yours and you can have anything.'

She leaned back a little. Their eyes met. Elle said softly, 'Anything.'

He smiled. Elle kissed him on the cheek, before breaking his grasp. Her feet were on the ground now, and she led him quickly to the open cell door. The click of her heals mixed with his bare foot slap as the hurried towards the exit.

_An Unlucky Shoe Store- Odessa, Texas_

'Why are we stopping?'

'Because you need shoes,' Elle responded.

Amazingly, Sylar appeared unconvinced at her response. As funny as watching him half hobble and half hop across the Company parking to the car was, he would need shoes. Plus, Elle knew they had to ditch the Company car.

Smoothly she parallel parked, just like the Company driving instructors taught. Elle had the door open and was about to step out, when she noticed that Sylar had not moved. Impatiently she turned to him. His dark eyes stared down the street.

'This again,' Elle asked.

'Yes.'

'I've told you before, there wasn't time, or I would have let you kill her,' Elle answered.

When she finally got him out of his cell, Sylar started drooling the moment he saw Eden's unconscious body. His eyes took on a feral needy aspect that reminded her of the time he killed Trevor. Elle had to plead with him, and had even shocked him before she dragged a protesting Sylar away from the other woman. Even now, with the Company miles behind, he remained stuck on his lost snack.

Her blue eyes watched him. In the passenger seat, Sylar remained silently brooding. Deep brown eyes fixed on the various storefronts across the street. He reminded Elle of a kid from the movies she watched, little Sylar throwing a hissy fit because he did not get a toy from the toy store.

Well, Mommy could make it all better. In fact Elle knew of a better toy she could give Sylar. She knew what toy he really, really wanted, and it was far better than stupid Eden.

'I know where she lives,' Elle said.

'Hmm,' he responded still distracted.

'Claire, the Cheerleader, I know where she lives.'

His head snapped around. Dark eyes alert and hungry. 'You do,' he made the words more a question than a statement.

'Yes, I do. But first you need some shoes,' Elle responded.

He glanced at his bare feet. Sylar nodded like realizing his feet were bare was a revelation. He turned to her with a smile Elle found unsettlingly. In an overly polite tone that reminded her of Gabriel, he asked, 'You'll get them for me, right Elle?'

'Sure,' she responded already feeling like there was more to his request than her paying for his shoes.

They left the car, with Elle leading Sylar across the street to the chain footwear store. There were only two people working on what looked like a slow afternoon. Even better was the momentary lack of store customers.

Elle looked around for a second trying to figure out how best to do this. Then a slightly overweight store employee named Cyndi gave Sylar a weary look before asking how she could help. Since she did not have a plan, Elle decided to go with it.

'Hey, my boyfriend needs some shoes. Can you help?' Elle asked all blue eyed innocence.

Name Tag Cyndi gave the couple a tight smile. Elle knew what the problem was. Sylar was dressed in a white T-shirt, white slacks, and shoeless, with dark stubble on his cheeks. All of which combined to make him look like an escaped mental patient.

Despite her obvious reservations, Cyndi did her job. She guided them to the men's section. The couple sat on a bench running between racks of shoes, while Cyndi retrieved a marginally clean pair of socks for Sylar to try on shoes with. He gave the socks an offended look before slipping them on.

Then sounding like he was ordering lunch, Slayer requested, 'Docs, size ten and half, black.'

Cyndi turned to the shoe racks. Cyndi perused the racks as she muttered something nearly inaudible. Finally, she stopped and turned back to Sylar.

Politely Cyndi said, 'Looks like I'll have to get some from the back. I'll be just a minute.' Then she quickly walked behind the counter and disappeared through a door Elle assumed led to where more shoes were stored.

Elle sighed contently as she snuggled against Sylar. Her arm wrapped around his trim waist. Elle liked holding her boyfriend close. She was so happy that her first real date with Sylar included shoe shopping. Things were going to be perfect between them. Elle knew it.

The door chimed. Elle turned her head. A brown suited delivery man walked in carrying a package. She ignored him, while slipping her other arm around Sylar.

'Elle,' Sylar's voice amused.

'Hmm,' she responded, annoyed that he was running the moment.

'I need to be able to trust.'

'You can,' she assured him, with a gentle squeeze of his waist.

'I was thinking you could do something for me,' he said with a widening wolfish smile.

Elle would gladly do something for him. In fact she looked forward to doing many things for, and with, and to him. However, the middle of a shoe store did not seem like the place.

'This isn't the place for _that_,' she said. 'Not that I don't want to but it's kind of _public_…' she trailed off as her hand slide from his waist to his crotch. She squeezed him gentle, while kissing his cheek.

Sylar pulled her hand away from his crotch. His dark eyes seemed to consider her hand, before he met her gaze. In a arrogant tone he said, 'That wasn't what I was referring to. I need you do something so I know that I can trust you.'

Elle sat up a little at that. She could not figure out what he meant. Then Sylar pointed at the other employee and the delivery man. Turning her head to get a better look, Elle felt him lean in behind her.

Gently he whispered, 'Kill them.'

Elle supposed that his words were supposed to shock her. The Elle she pretended to be in Queens would have been shocked, but not the real Elle. She turned to look at him. Sylar tilted his head, with one eyebrow raised in question.

Shoe shopping and murder. This was by far the best date ever. Electricity hummed to life in her hands.

'What the?' the confused female voice startled Elle.

Cyndi had returned. The shoes clattered to the floor as Cyndi stared at the blue white electricity humming in Elle's hand. Elle smiled reassuring at the other woman.

'Bye, Cyndi,' Elle said as lighting arched from her hand. Cyndi slammed into a rack of shoes, which scattered across the floor. Then Elle turned to the surprised delivery man and store employee. The latter turned into a blacked husk with a flick of her wrist.

Elle coughed as the smells of ozone and charred meat assaulted her. She loved her sparks, but the aftereffect of them was a little nauseating. Still, she supposed it was worse for the delivery man, because he just vomited all over the floor.

Elle turned in Sylar's muscular arms. With a sweet innocent smile, she said, 'All done.'

'What about him?' he asked.

'Nope, he's yours.'

Sylar looked confused. He seemed puzzled that she had not killed the delivery man.

This time she whispered to him all school girl innocent, or what Elle imagined as school girl innocent, because she ever actually went to a school. 'You need new clothes, and he's about your size.'

His dark hungry eyes held questions. Elle raised a hand, and sparked a lithe finger against his noise. Sylar flinched.

She could hear the heavy fast footfalls of the delivery man running to the door. Again she whispered, 'If I do it, I'll mess up his clothes.'

Suddenly the footfalls stopped. A scream sounded behind her, masculine at first and then high pitched girly. The sound of cracking bone was followed by something heavy hitting the floor.

The entire time Elle watched his eyes. She supposed they were like hers, except darker. Sylar seemed to enjoy the violence, and the release of getting his way at the expense of others. Elle did, and he was like her. That was why she loved him so much.

Their gazes met. She smiled. He smiled.

'Trust me now?' she asked.

He did not say anything. In fact, he barely moved. However, his slight movement was everything to Elle, because he kissed her.


End file.
